With President Barack Obama playing golf and getting briefed on the approaching Hurricane Irene on Martha's Vineyard yesterday, his daughters, Sasha and Malia, took an excursion to Nantucket. President Obama's daughters arrived at noon in a private, 40-foot boat, which was escorted into the harbor by a Coast Guard cutter, according to a source with knowledge of the girls' trip to the island. Accompanied by Secret Service agents on the impromptu visit, the girls strolled around downtown, and were spotted at the Cheryl Fudge clothing store and other locations in the core district before departing around 5 p.m. The Obamas are vacationing on Martha's Vineyard for the second straight summer.

So..... the adolescent presidential daughters get their own shopping junket to Nantucket, absent the company of their mother or father. And the American taxpayers once again are soaked for the cost of Cost Guard cutters to escort them along with an extensive Secret Service detail to protect them while they go clothes shopping. I wonder what Michelle was up to. Sipping Vodka martinis back home at the ranch? And perhaps the prez was setting out for another round of golf. No, he was probably diligently working on his new jobs and economic report as promised. Who knows. Who cares. Obviously the mainstream media don't seem to have a problem with any of it.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Back in September we reported that blogger Pamela Geller of Atlas Shrugs and attorney John Stemberger had been sued by Ohio jihadist attorney Omar Tarazi over public comments they made during the Rifqa Bary saga (Stemberger was Rifqa's Florida attorney). We have been following this lawsuit very closely, but several months ago our attention to the case became more personal.

Discovery requests by Tarazi revealed that part of his agenda was to expose my (Barbarossa) real-world identity. One request demands the following from Geller and Stemberger:

“The identity and contact information for the individual who posts under the name Barbarossa on the Jawa Report Blog.”

He has also demanded that Stemberger reveal the identity of a confidential informant who provided him information about Tarazi and his connections to the terror-tied Bary family mosque, the Noor Islamic Cultural Center, during Rifqa's custody case.

Because of our many and very public tangles with jihadists and actual terrorists here at the Jawa Report, revealing anyone of our identities could pose a real danger to our health and safety. If my identity were revealed, Tarazi could use the court system to compel me to reveal the identities of other Jawa contributors (or how much crazy blog ad money Howie spends per month on ghey midget porn). Needless to say, we can't let that happen (especially for Howie).

So earlier this week an attorney filed a motion for a protective order in federal court on behalf of myself and Stemberger's confidential informant. We have posted the motion submitted to the court below the fold. Fortunately, we have a great, experienced attorney representing us. He's confident that the law is on our side to not only protect our identity, but also that this search-and-destroy lawsuit targeting Rifqa's supporters will be promptly thrown out of court. But it might take some time and some financial assistance to make that happen.

With that in mind, I need to ask for your help. So far the legal costs to file for this protective order have been underwritten by the Middle East Forum's Legal Project. I'm kindly asking readers of the Jawa Report to go to the Legal Project's paypal page and throw them some shekels to help us fight this jihadist lawfare attack. Please note "Barbarossa" or "Jawa Report" in the comment section.

I also ask that you consider helping support John Stemberger's legal defense fund. He is not only a defendant in this bogus federal lawsuit, but is currently fighting a separate bogus bar complaint against him filed by Tarazi with the Florida Bar (who was been more than a willing accomplice since many of Stemberger's political enemies are using this to cripple his efforts). You can donate to his legal fund here.

Thursday, February 19, 2009

I get an e-mail asking me to go to their site and check them out, so I do but there's not much meat there. There are links to an Amnesty International campaign (yes, alarm bells are going off) called Irrepressible.Info. And then there are a couple of broken links to their fundraising arm and to a site they title Fight for Free Speecho

It all sounds so... liberal.

Google isn't much help though admittedly I didn't go too far past the first page and there seems to be a lot of unaffiliated folks with the moniker Outspoken Media.

Of course, their mission statement speaks of reducing inequality and empowering people and again the warning bells go off.

In any case, I imagine some of you will be able to shed some light if interested.

Friday, October 17, 2008

I confess to being a rube when it comes to optimizing this site for search engines. A complete rube. I've relied solely on TypePad's capabilities and frankly think that they've done a fairly decent job in that Brutally Honest shows up consistently in search engines.

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the volume and quality of traffic to a web site from search engines via "natural" ("organic" or "algorithmic") search results. Usually, the earlier a site is presented in the search results, or the higher it "ranks," the more searchers will visit that site. SEO can also target different kinds of search, including image search, local search, and industry-specific vertical search engines.

As an Internet marketing strategy, SEO considers how search engines work and what people search for. Optimizing a website primarily involves editing its content and HTML coding to both increase its relevance to specific keywords and to remove barriers to the indexing activities of search engines. Sometimes a site's structure (the relationships between its content) must be altered too. Because of this it is, from a client's perspective, always better to incorporate Search Engine Optimization when a website is being developed than to try and retroactively apply it.

Bottom line is that I've since found that there's much more to it and so it might be wise to seek the help of those who might know more about it.

Entering the picture comes SEO Expert. They offer services bloggers could use, especially newbies and have been around for 10 years. And interestingly enough, the SEO Experts are offering a free quote to those who might be interested.

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Not only are the decks adorned with the faces of recognizable politicians but they sit atop the bodies of a variety of animals, all to make you wonder exactly what the makers of politically wild cards are trying to tell you.

This is your chance to get involved in a unique deck
of "interactive" playing cards that have a little fun with all of the
WILD! stuff that goes on during each election cycle. The deck is
"interactive" because the comments in each limited edition come from YOU…the general public!

With
the 2008 Election fast approaching, an ongoing war in Iraq, illegal
immigration and many other issues are on the minds of Americans. What
lies in their hearts? Americans are ready for their voice to be heard
and what better way for them to express these ideas than through fun
deck of playing cards. Odds are the politicians still won’t listen,
but we can at least feel like we made an effort. The BEST way to make
your voice heard is to GET OUT AND VOTE every November!

Some
of the images consists of politicians and "political celebrities" with
their face on the body of an animal while the court cards deal with
specific issues which are hot political topics right now. There is a
deck specifically for the Democrats and another one for the
Republicans. So come on America, this is your chance to be heard. Who
knows, your comments may be used in the next edition.

Saturday, August 16, 2008

This I found interesting and is, I believe, an indication that American made cars have come a long way:

Lexus once again stands alone atop a closely
watched ranking of vehicle dependability after Buick slipped from the
No. 1 spot it shared with the Japanese luxury brand last year, J.D.
Power and Associates says.

It's the 14th straight year Toyota
Motor Corp.'s high-end brand has held the top position in the annual
study, which measures problems experienced by the original owners of
vehicles after three years. Lexus had 120 problems per 100 vehicles,
down from 145 last year.

"That's a pretty good track record,"
said Dave Sargent, J.D. Power's vice president of automotive research.
"They benefited to some degree ... where a couple of their very
important models in their second year on the market — the ES and the
RX, which together account for over two-thirds of lexus sales — both
improved significantly."

Ford Motor Co.'s Mercury brand ranked
second, followed by General Motors Corp.'s Cadillac. Toyota was fourth,
and Honda Motor Co.'s Acura luxury brand was fifth. Land Rover, which
Ford sold this year to India's Tata Motors Ltd., was the
worst-performing brand, with 344 problems.

Fascinating... and I had thought that Land Rover was a Toyota made vehicle.

The article closes thusly:

Broken out by segment, Lexus took top honors
in six categories for its IS 300, ES 300 and LS 300 sedans, the SC 430
coupe, and the GX 470 and LX 470 utility vehicles. Toyota led four
categories and tied Honda for a fifth. Toyota's Prius hybrid was the
top-ranked vehicle in the compact car segment.

Besides the Buick
Century, one other GM vehicle was ranked the best in its segment: The
Chevrolet Monte Carlo took the honor amid midsize sporty cars. Ford led
three categories with the Crown Victoria large car, the Ford Ranger
midsize pickup and the Mercury Monterey minivan.

Chrysler LLC was the only Detroit automaker with no brands ranked better than the industry average.

That' too bad about Chrysler, I think they make some fantastic looking vehicles.

Thursday, August 07, 2008

I don't need to tell you that gas prices are high, but there is someone I do need to tell...

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

...and I need your help to do it.

Please mail me your gas receipts and a short note about what your family has had to sacrifice because of out-of-control prices at the pump. I'll bundle together all the receipts and stories I receive and send them to Senator Reid. Together, we will send a message to Washington and show Harry Reid that high gas prices are hurting Oklahomans.

Please mail your gas receipts by August 21 to:

Jim InhofePO Box 13300Oklahoma City, OK 73113

Harry Reid won't even allow debate on a single solution I've proposed with my colleagues. And now Congress is on a five week recess! I don't think he understands just how serious this is, but together we can show him.

In recent weeks, I have worked with other Congressional Republicans to bring down gas prices by expanding exploration of the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), opening ANWR, developing America's oil shales, and expanding refining capacity.

Last month, I introduced the American Affordable Fuels Act of 2008 that includes these measures as well as the Drive America on Natural Gas Act, which would promote the use of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) vehicles.

And just last week, I teamed up with Representative Dan Boren to introduce the Marginal Well Production Preservation and Enhancement Act, which ensures the nation's policies recognize and reflect the economic importance of marginal well production.

But none of these ideas are even being considered because the Democrat Senate leadership is standing in the way. Let's send them a message by sending in our gas receipts.

An angel investor or angel (known as a business angel or informal investor in Europe), is an affluent individual who provides capital for a business start-up, usually in exchange for convertible debt or ownership equity. A small but increasing number of angel investors organize themselves into angel groups or angel networks to share research and pool their investment capital.

...

Angels typically invest their own funds, unlike venture capitalists, who manage the pooled money of others in a professionally-managed fund. Although typically reflecting the investment judgment of an individual, the actual entity that provides the funding may be a trust, business, limited liability company, investment fund, etc.

Angel capital fills the gap in start-up financing between "friends and family" (sometimes humorously called "friends, family, and fools") who provide seed fundung, and venture capital. Although it is usually difficult to raise more than a few hundred thousand dollars from friends and family, most traditional venture capital funds are usually not able to consider investments under US$1–2 million. Thus, angel investment is a common second round of financing for high-growth start-ups, and accounts in total for almost as much money invested annually as all venture capital funds combined, but into more than ten times as many companies (US$25.6 billion vs. $26.1 billion in the US in 2006, into 51,000 companies vs. 3,522 companies).

Wikipedia goes on to cite the growing number of angel investors and networks:

According to the Center for Venture Research, there were 234,000 active angel investors in the U.S. in 2006. Beginning in the late 1980s, angels started to coalesce into informal groups with the goal of sharing deal flow and due diligence work, and pooling their funds to make larger investments. Angel groups are generally local organizations made up of 10 to 150 accredited investors interested in early-stage investing. In 1996 there were about 10 angel groups in the U.S.; as of 2008 there are over 300, with a roughly equal number in all other countries combined; these groups accounted for approximately 10,000 individual angel investors in 2008. The more advanced of these groups have full time, professional staffs; associated investment funds; sophisticated web-based platforms for processing funding applications; and annual operating budgets of well over US$250,000. A recent development, particularly in North America, has been the emergence of networks of angel groups, through which companies that apply for funding to one group are then brought before other groups to raise additional capital.

One of those networks I've been recently turned onto can be found here and might be worthy of some perusing, especially if you're one hoping to find an angel or angels who might just set the course toward cutting our dependence on Arab oil.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

With gas approaching $5 a gallon, a barrel of oil at $140, and OPEC seeing it rise to $170 by summer's end, can there be any surprise that hybrid vehicles are becoming all the rage, especially from our most caring and completely green Hollywood heroes and heroines.

I've been test-driving cars for about 10 years now, including my share
of hybrids: the infamous Toyota Prius; some of the first Ford Escapes;
Honda Civics, Accords, and Fits. With hybrids, there have always been
excuses to make and myths to bust in response to queries from curious
drivers of traditional gas-guzzlers. And so I've compiled what I call
the Hybrid Handbook to counter people who think that a) hybrids get 135
miles per gallon (they don't); b) hybrids need to be plugged in at
night (they don't); or c) hybrids go only 35 miles per hour (they
don't). Still, I confess, I've always believed that d) hybrids come
only in small, boring, not-designed-for-hair-raising packages.

As did I frankly but lo and behold, the article goes on to describe a hybrid car that seems to defy the stereotype:

In a world where gas is being treated like dry land in Waterworld,
the Lexus 450h is an island of its own. For $55,800—$2,780 more than
the GS460—you will get a car that's just as quick as the 460, with more
equipment, greater fuel savings, and, seriously, more fun than the
regular Lexus.*
And it does get 20 percent better fuel economy than the GS460 (22 mpg
city/25 mpg highway in the hybrid versus 17 mpg city/24 mpg highway in
the nonhybrid).

Savings aside, the fun quotient was the biggest
X factor for me. My previous experience with gas pedals and hybrids was
a lesson in disconnection. Step on the gas, and they don't go. They
hesitate, whirl up like a hand-held electric mixer, then sort of go.
This was the superfast, deluxe KitchenAid mixer of cars. Step hard with
your right foot, and the kilowatt needle (a cool white display that
shows the maximum output of electric power) jumps to life, the rear
wheels spin, and you are up to speed faster than you can say, "Thank
God for Thomas Edison's parents getting together."(Or about 5.55
seconds to 60 mph.)

Stop at a light, and the whole system does
its hybrid trick and shuts down. Restart, and you awaken a
re-engineered version of Toyota's Hybrid Synergy Drive—the system that
made the Prius into the poster child for the green movement and turned
every Hollywood actor into an expert on cars. How does it work? The
system teams up with three main parts: one electric motor/generator
that powers the rear wheels, a second electric motor/generator that
acts as a primary generator and starter and controls engine speed, and
a direct-injection, 292-horsepower, 3.5-liter V6. At low speeds, the
first electric motor moves the car. A battery pack recharges itself
with energy recovered from braking. When all systems move as one, it is
the equivalent of 340 horsepower. It is all mated to a gearless,
continuously variable transmission. Get stuck in four-lane
bumper-to-bumper traffic and you are suddenly driving, in terms of your
carbon footprint, an ultraluxurious golf cart.

I've gagged quite frankly at those Toyota Priuses I drive by on the highway, usually driven by either balding but pony-tailed pale looking guys or older overweight women with lipstick on their teeth, either one looking down their noses at me as I rumble by them on the road on my carbon spewing Harley.

Though there's no way I'd trade my Harley for one, I think it'd be pretty neat to slip behind the wheel of a hybrid Lexus 450h if only to leave a haughty Prius owner high and dry at a red light while matching his or her carbon footprint.

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

A few months ago, my oldest son began receiving mailings from credit card companies, each one seeking additional information to accompany a previously submitted application for credit. The problem? He hadn't applied for any of them.

For the next several weeks, he spent countless hours on the phone with the credit card companies, with department store credit bureaus, with authorities and online as he attempted to straighten things out. It was a nightmare and he continues even now to try to undo the damage.

So when I received an e-mail promoting the services of Lifelock.com, I was intrigued. You may have seen the TV commercial with the CEO of the company blurting out his Social Security Number. It does tend to grab you.